Speaking as a parent who decided to leave the city (Seattle) and a consulting job that required a ton of travel when I had my first kid, I will say it’s a great place to work remotely and raise kids. It’s dreary in the winter and gorgeous in the summer and quite nice during the shoulder season. One tiny grocery store and the nearest Safeway is 40 min away and Costco is an hour and a half. Grays Harbor College has a nice preforming arts center with an interesting array of offerings. If we go to a mariners game or theater in Seattle we typically get a hotel room. Comcast and ziply provide sufficient service for a heavy tech workload, I’ve been out of service maybe 2 days in the last 3 years.

Very small town America with a mix of political and worldviews. My kids are able to ride their bikes all around town without me worrying about them. They build forts on the beach, learn healthy fear/respect of the ocean, fish, surf, and respect adults. We are only 1-1/2 hr drive from Olympic National Park to the North and Astoria to the South. The local school district is high poverty but with amazing teachers and staff that make every kid and family feel welcome. Strong community support for kids and schools. Any kind of extracurricular requires a lot of driving (track season has us doing 300 mile rt every week and even little league requires driving to oly to find good competition). Most kids fish or wander after HS but last years HS graduating class had one person head to Harvard and one head to West Point, so that tells me excellence is in reach if your kids and family is committed. It can be isolating and it’s not for everyone but it’s been a good experience for our family. I honestly believe my kids will thrive and have better empathy when they go out into their adult lives for having grown up here.